You are here: Home/Questions/ Novelist Robin Yassin-Kassab once said, “Palestinians, in the West at least, lack a popular counter narrative. Palestinians are reported on, met only in the news.” Do you agree?

Novelist Robin Yassin-Kassab once said, “Palestinians, in the West at least, lack a popular counter narrative. Palestinians are reported on, met only in the news.” Do you agree?

March 18, 2014 By

Ask the Author › Category: General › Novelist Robin Yassin-Kassab once said, “Palestinians, in the West at least, lack a popular counter narrative. Palestinians are reported on, met only in the news.” Do you agree?

I definitely agree. After the Holocaust, the West was quite happy to give Palestine to the Jews and to buy into the fallacy that Palestine was a land waiting for a people.
The first Zionists were from the West and they spoke western languages, were well organised, had money and made the story they wished to tell the world whereas the Palestinians mostly spoke Arabic and didn’t have anyone to tell their story to the western audience. As time went on, the Zionist narrative was the only one heard.

“The best fiction that I read this year is for sure The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti”

Anu Reviews

“…definitely a five-star…the story is powerful and engrossing, definitely recommended.”

The Dubious Disciple (One of the top 10 Christian blogs in US)

This is a beautifully written story that will leave no reader untouched – a story that will devour you from the beginning.

Wanda’s Reviews

Like Picasso’s painting Guernica, Corasanti’s book has the power to command the world’s collective attention

Marsha Hansen (Sister in law of Keith Richards,Rolling Stones) speaks about The Almond Tree

“…Spellbinding… Brilliant.. Mind-blowing… Remarkable…”
“It has been a very long time since a book pulled me in as far as
The Almond …did, and an even longer time since a book has made me cry.”

E-Book Review

“I predict (The Almond Tree) will become one of the biggest bestsellers of the decade…”

Huffington Post

“A genuine page-turner”

Paper Tree Blog

“This powerful debut novel by Michelle Cohen is a compelling narrative of how the human spirit can overcome overwhelming odds by transforming what seems to be a hopeless situation into a life that is full of opportunities… Cohen, who grew up in the United States and lived and studied in Israel, weaves a complex narrative with a delicate balance of sensitivity and candor. Her description of everyday life as it interacts with family traditions, cultural norms, and political realities, is rich …

Professor Samir Abu-AbsiProfessor Emeritus of English at the University of Toledo. Writer and editor, American Arabs in Toledo Samir Abu-Absi (B.A. in English from The American University of Beirut, M.A. & Ph.D. in Linguistics from Indiana University) is Professor Emeritus of English. He has taught language and linguistics courses that include Linguistic Principles, History of the English Language, Phonology, Applied Linguistics, and Arabic. His research interests include ESL, Language Policy and Planning, Arabic Structure, and the relationship between Language and Culture.

“Credit goes to the author for conceptualizing and scripting this beautiful story so brilliantly.”

pebbleinthestillwaters.blogspot

The preconceived notion that the greatest creations in world literature have almost been achieved in the grim periods of time comes true with Michelle Cohen’s debut, The Almond Tree. Michelle, although is a lesser known novelist unlike other Jewish authors of enormous fame, Imre Kertész or Amos Oz but her literary explorations and rich narration can be feasibly equated to such canons of literature… Michelle’s craftsmanship of drawing characters is conspicuously dexterous.

Rising Kashmir

“Michelle Cohen Corasanti has transported her readers into the life of a Palestinian Arab so effortlessly that anyone can relate to Ahmed Hamid.”

One and a Half Minute Blog

“…an epic drama of the proportions of The Kite Runner”

Huffington Post

I loved the way she described each and every character from Amal, Abbas, and Hani to Ahmed and Sara. This is the way a story should be narrated.

Timid Fingers

“…a moving and powerful novel based on historical events,
which the writer weaves together harmoniously…
It is the type of story that will keep you wondering
where reality ends and fiction starts.”

Gulf Daily News, Jamal Kanj author of Children of Catastrophe

“Corasanti has written a phenomenal tale, and she holds the reader’s
attention completely; making this book almost impossible to set down.”

Washington Report on the Middle East

“An insightful perspective on the questions of Palestinian exile and survival that haunt the Middle East…Promises a bright future for Corasanti.”

World Literature Today Magazine

“The prose is as evocative as it is powerful…”

The Hindu Business Line

The narrating style reminds me of the legendary writer KHALED HOSSEINI, very simple way to narrate a story which will definitely force the readers to complete the book in one go.

Timid Fingers

“…brilliant and powerful…a fiction that rings with authenticity and integrity to reveal the
wonder of what it really is to be human. If ever peace is to become a reality between Israel and
Palestine, it will be because of the influence of books such as this…This…book…will endure
and resonate forever in the souls of all who read it…Some books have the power to change us
profoundly; this is one of those books.”

Les Edgerton, author of The Death of Tarpons and Monday´s Meal

The Almond Tree skillfully cobbles together a mosaic of the Palestinian condition from the mid-twentieth century to the present time with stark candor.

Marsha Hansen (Sister in law of Keith Richards,Rolling Stones) speaks about The Almond Tree